The Management of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Estrogen Biosynthesis and Signal Transduction in Ovarian Disease

Estrogen mainly binds to estrogen receptors (ERs) to regulate menstrual cycles and reproduction. The expression of ERalpha (ERα), ERbeta (ERβ), and G-protein-coupled estrogen receptor (GPER) mRNA could be detected in ovary, suggesting that they play an important role in estrogen signal transduction in ovary. And many studies have revealed that abnormal expression of estrogen and its receptors is closely related to ovarian disease or malignant tumors. With the continuous development and research of animal models, tissue-specific roles of both ERα and ERβ have been demonstrated in animals, which enable people to have a deeper understanding of the potential role of ER in regulating female reproductive diseases. Nevertheless, our current understanding of ERs expression and function in ovarian disease is, however, incomplete. To elucidate the biological mechanism behind ERs in the ovary, this review will focus on the role of ERα and ERβ in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), ovarian cancer and premature ovarian failure (POF) and discuss the major challenges of existing therapies to provide a reference for the treatment of estrogen target tissue ovarian diseases.

Effect of metformin intervention during pregnancy on the gestational diabetes mellitus in women with polycystic ovary syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Metformin is an effective insulin sensitizer treating type 2 diabetes mellitus. However, the functional consequences of metformin administration throughout pregnancy on gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) have not been assessed. We therefore performed a meta-analysis and system review to determine the effect of metformin on GDM in PCOS. A meta-analysis was performed on the published studies before December, 2013. Meta-analysis examined whether metformin could reduce GDM occurrence in PCOS with a fixed effect model. The odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (95% CI) was calculated to estimate the strength of association. A total of 13 studies including 5 RCTs and 8 non-RCTs were enrolled. Ultimately, effectiveness analysis demonstrated that, in total, there was no significant availability of metformin on GDM in PCOS in contrast to placebo (OR = 1.07, 95% CI 0.60-1.92) in RCTs and significant availability of metformin on GDM (OR = 0.19, 95% CI 0.13-0.27) was indicated in non-RCTs. In summary, according to the results of our meta-analysis, strictly, metformin did not significantly effect on GDM with PCOS, though more multicenters RCTs still need to be investigated.

The Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and recent human evolution

The Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is a complex endocrine disorder characterised both by reproductive and metabolic disturbance, and is the most common cause globally of ovarian infertility. It is also a familial polygenic condition, linked genetically to both Type 2 diabetes and the metabolic syndrome. The striking evolutionary paradox of this prominent genetically-based condition, which impairs fertility, is that not only should it have diminished in prevalence, but it should have done so rapidly - unless there has been some form of balancing selection. The emerging discipline of evolutionary medicine can provide important insights into the causes and patterns of occurrence of common diseases such as PCOS. In this paper we review the impacts of PCOS on infertility, fecundability and lifetime reproductive success and then critically appraise published hypotheses about the evolutionary origins of PCOS and related conditions.

Report of the international symposium: polycystic ovary syndrome: first Latin-American consensus

During the last years, numerous consensuses have been held in different countries in order to review the data concerning diagnosis and treatment and their relationship with the ethnic origin, social status and lifestyle of women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). This study describes the conclusions concerning diagnostic criteria and the appropriate treatment of women with PCOS reached during the International Symposium Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, First Latin-American Consensus held in Buenos Aires, Argentina on 4th and 5th May 2009 to be applied in South American.

Effects of metformin and ethinyl estradiol-cyproterone acetate on clinical, endocrine and metabolic factors in women with polycystic ovary syndrome

BACKGROUND

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a major endocrine abnormality that affects women of reproductive age. Oral contraceptive pills are usually the first choice of treatment for PCOS when fertility is not desired. Metformin, an insulin-sensitizing drug, has been shown to improve such metabolic abnormality. Aim. To compare the effects of a contraceptive pill in combination with metformin on the clinical, endocrine and metabolic parameters in obese and non-obese patients with PCOS.

METHODS

Sixty PCOS patients (25 obese, 35 non-obese) were enrolled in this prospective clinical study. PCOS was defined according to the Rotterdam criteria. Patients were randomized to oral treatment with Diane35 (35 microg ethinyl estradiol plus 2 mg cyproterone acetate), metformin or a combination of Diane35/metformin for 3 months. Body mass index (BMI), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), Ferriman-Gallwey (FG) score, leuteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), testosterone, fasting insulin and glucose/insulin ratio were measured at baseline and at the end of treatment.

RESULTS

Diane35 resulted in a higher reduction of FG score in both obese and non-obese PCOS patients compared with metformin. Menstrual regularity was restored in all PCOS patients treated with Diane35 compared with only 28% of those receiving metformin. Metformin significantly decreased BMI and WHR in obese patients (p < 0.05). Testosterone levels decreased in all three groups. LH levels and LH/FSH ratio decreased with Diane35 and Diane35/metformin in both obese and non-obese patients. Metformin significantly decreased fasting insulin concentrations (p < 0.05 and p < 0.01) and increased the insulin sensitivity (p < 0.05) in both obese and non-obese PCOS patients, while no significant changes were observed in the Diane35 group. In addition, insulin levels also decreased (p < 0.05) in the Diane35/metformin group.

CONCLUSIONS

Our data show that a combination of metformin and contraceptive pill may be more effective in suppressing the hyperandrogenemia of obese and non-obese PCOS patients than metformin alone and may reduce insulin levels more than contraceptive pill alone. Hence, combined treatment may become a more effective therapeutic option for PCOS.

Fetal programming: prenatal testosterone treatment leads to follicular persistence/luteal defects; partial restoration of ovarian function by cyclic progesterone treatment

Prenatal testosterone (T) excess during midgestation leads to estrous cycle defects and polycystic ovaries in sheep. We hypothesized that follicular persistence causes polycystic ovaries and that cyclic progesterone (P) treatment would overcome follicular persistence and restore cyclicity. Twice-weekly blood samples for P measurements were taken from control (C; n = 16) and prenatally T-treated (T60; n = 14; 100 mg T, im, twice weekly from d 30-90 of gestation) Suffolk sheep starting before the onset of puberty and continuing through the second breeding season. A subset of C and T60 sheep were treated cyclically with a modified controlled internal drug-releasing device for 13-14 d every 17 d during the first anestrus (CP, 7; TP, 6). Transrectal ovarian ultrasonography was performed for 8 d in the first and 21 d in the second breeding season. Prenatal T excess reduced the number, but increased the duration of progestogenic cycles, reduced the proportion of ewes with normal cycles, increased the proportion of ewes with subluteal cycles, decreased the proportion of ewes with ovulatory cycles, induced the occurrence of persistent follicles, and reduced the number of corpora lutea in those that cycled. Cyclic P treatment in anestrus, which produced one third the P concentration seen during luteal phase of cycle, did not reduce the number of persistent follicles, but increased the number of progestogenic cycles while reducing their duration. These findings suggested that follicular persistence might contribute to the polycystic ovarian morphology. Cyclic P treatment was able to only partially restore follicular dynamics, but this may be related to the low replacement concentrations of P achieved.

Oral contraceptives and the management of hyperandrogenism-polycystic ovary syndrome in adolescents

Appropriate management of polycystic ovary syndrome in adolescents depends on recognizing the syndrome, which can have a variety of presenting complaints and must be differentiated from other causes of hyperandrogenism, as well as not dismissed as "normal adolescence." Oral contraceptives have long been considered the first line of treatment by obstetrician/gynecologists and have many advantages in treating the aspects of PCOS that are most bothersome to teens. Because of the potential risk for cardiovascular disease, early diagnosis and management may be helpful in minimizing the risk of the early metabolic correlates of adult disease.